Behind the News: The Real Life of Two Emerging Ukrainian Fashion Designers

You might think that fashion is one of the very last things to have any relevance in the Ukraine uprising that has exploded over the last week. As far as the hopes of a band of extraordinary young women in Kiev is concerned, that is far from the truth. I’ve been following the fortunes of a couple young Ukrainian fashion designers for the past several months, an interest triggered when the shows at Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days blipped onto my radar. Finding new designers is one of my missions in life. Suddenly, it looked like a whole country was coming up with the kind of vitality and creativity I want to know about. They are mostly young women, part and parcel of a brave, independent-minded generation hoping for a future for their native land, themselves, and their children.

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Anna October

Photo: Anton Yeremenko

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Julie Paskal

Photo: Anton Yeremenko

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Photo: Anton Yeremenko

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Last September, I met Anna October and Julie Paskal (who design under their own labels) in Paris. They were showing their clothes in a basement. I was blown away by the freshness and quality of their collections, and even more so by the designers’ articulate charm and humble determination to learn and seize every opportunity against the kind of odds that make the struggles of most new Western designers look like a cakewalk. Their clothes match the standards of any emerging designer from London, New York, or Paris. The good news is that both designers have been selected for the shortlist of 30 who are competing in this week’s semifinal of the LVMH prize for young designers. Since the extreme crisis in their country has calmed, they’ll be able to fly from Kiev to compete today.

I was introduced to October and Paskal by Daria Shapovalova, the young fashion journalist who took it upon her shoulders to select and mentor designers from all over Ukraine and Eastern Europe and bring them together to show in the Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days. Last summer, I asked Shapovalova by e-mail what it is about the spirit of her countrywomen that is producing such bold, creative ambition. “Well,” she replied, “Ukraine is a feminist country!” It’s a remark that has stayed with me as day by gut-wrenching day we’ve watched the involvement of young Ukrainian women in the Kiev uprising in pictures.

My correspondence with Shapovalova since early last summer stands as an explanation of what triggered the peaceful protests that turned to carnage last week. On May 5, she wrote excitedly: “There is a chance we will sign the agreement with the EU in the nearest future. I hope we will!!! It is a dream of every person working in fashion in Ukraine.” This would have made it easier for Ukraine businesses to sell their goods to Europe and would have improved designers’ chances of succeeding immeasurably. But on November 29, Shapovalova wrote again: “Things are getting worse. The president is not going to sign the agreement. Either it will be possible after the elections in 2015, or people will go on the revolution tomorrow. We’ll see.”

We did see. Shapovalova was reporting the collections in Milan when the bloodshed started in Kiev. She e-mailed me on Thursday night: “Girls with whom I meet at social events and discuss clothes are there on Maidan, helping wounded people. I can’t open Facebook without bursting into tears.”

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Photo: Yulia Yurchenko

October was trying to finish her fall collection in Kiev. She e-mailed: “Since the moment when protests have started, we have all become more brave and fearless. The aspiration for a better future and changes are that high—and that desirable—that there are no more fears. We have a very strong belief in our culture and nation that makes us powerful. Our mentality aims for freedom and human rights.”

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Photo: Yulia Podolskaya

As the news changed, and the agreement between the opposition and the president (who has now reportedly fled the capital) was signed, I heard from Paskal in Odessa. “I am very proud to be Ukrainian, with all those brave people fighting for our national pride,” she wrote. “I’m very grateful to self-defense units, doctors, my friends, and all those dignified people who didn’t break. The facts which led to the deaths of so many people are absurd, and in a modern world, nothing like this should happen.”

Paskal has a child. Her words explained to me exactly why young women in her country are so actively committed. “As a mother, I hope affiliating with the EU will give us a chance for a better and more stable life. I think that, historically, women in our country are beautiful, brave, and emancipated. My mother raised my brother and me getting an education in physics and working as an interior designer. I want to be like her because she can do everything. What I understood about times like these every woman is ready to take a risk for her beloved. In a critical moment, everybody expressed themselves. This is the moment of rebirth of the nation. Glory to Ukraine, and strength to the brave hearts of our people.”